


Eden's Not for Us

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hollywood, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27780799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: "Ruby wouldn't say that she hated her job. It was a job, after all, it paid the bills, and she'd fought very hard to get it. But doing the hair and make-up of actresses all day long wasn't why she'd moved to LA for."A Ruby/Christina 1950s Hollywood AU.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 12
Kudos: 96





	Eden's Not for Us

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! For once in a long time, I couldn't find the right words to put into a summary, so I'm happy it still caught your eye!  
> This AU takes place in 1954, and it begins with Christina auditioning for East of Eden. Now, usually, I would have used a transcript to write the dialog but I couldn't find any for this movie, so I had to watch the scene on Youtube and type up the dialog manually, all the while James Dean mumbled half of his lines... So I hope I got it about right?  
> Anyway, I hope you'll like it!

Ruby wouldn't say that she hated her job. It was a job, after all, it paid the bills, and she'd fought very hard to get it. But doing the hair and make-up of actresses all day long wasn't why she'd moved to LA for. She didn't complain, on the principle that they could fire her without a second thought if they heard her, but it didn't make her any happier, and every passing day brought more regrets than the day before, to the point of nausea.

  
That day, they were auditioning actresses for a big shot director's next big movie. Ruby was waiting for the next when she overheard a conversation between the director and his producer. Apparently, he already had his pick for the role, but Mr. Warner had insisted they hold auditions anyway because the actress was too old for the role. Ruby pretended she hadn't heard anything, and suppressed an eye roll. This entire audition process and the day was a waste of everyone's time and money.

  
The next actress stepped into the studio wearing a simple old-fashioned dress which looked like it didn't belong on the young woman at all. She had beautiful blonde hair, long, and piercing blue eyes. She sat in the chair in front of the mirror beside Ruby. Her eyes were transfixed on Ruby, paying close attention to what she was doing. Ruby brushed her hair per the instructions she'd been given. It was the role of a young woman in a small town before the First World War. She tried to get rid of the bounce at the end of the woman's locks, but they refused to relent as if the woman's natural glamour just wouldn't dissipate.

  
As she worked, she felt the woman's eyes still on her. She stared with something in her eyes Ruby couldn't quite understand. Once Ruby had done her hair, she picked up the makeup pencil. Before she got to work, however, the woman asked quietly:

  
"Could you say light on the makeup? I'm already on a disadvantage enough as it is..."

  
Ruby looked at the woman's reflection. She was the most gorgeous woman who'd come to audition this afternoon, that was for sure. Ruby almost wanted to tell her not to waste her time with it, that it was already decided, but instead, she nodded.

  
"Yes, ma'am."

  
She passed foundation over her face quickly. The girl's sky blue eyes finally shut, and Ruby felt she could breathe better. Once she was done, she shut the makeup palette. The girl's eyes opened and she inspected herself in the mirror but a second, before her eyes settled on Ruby's reflection.

  
"This is probably as good as it's going to get," the blonde said. "Thank you."

  
She stood up, the heavy wooden chair grinding against the concrete ground. She walked away with a sway in her step, even though she wasn't wearing high heels. She went to introduce herself to the director and the producers. It was only when she saw her from afar that Ruby thought she recognized the woman. She'd debuted the year before in a vampire movie, where she'd played the titular vampire. Leti had recommended it to her, but then again Leti had strange tastes in horror movies. It wasn't that Ruby hadn't liked the movie. But it had been quite uncomfortable to watch the whole room cheering for the death of the vampire at the hand of the hero.

  
"Silence on set," the assistant director called out.

  
Ruby shifted just a bit closer to the set to watch the audition.

  
"Christina Braithwhite, camera test for the role of Abra Bacon. Directed by Elia Kazan. Take one."

  
The cameras started rolling as silence fell over the set. Ruby could hear the sound of the film turning in the camera. The blonde actress was seating in a fake Ferris wheel seat. The actor beside her was too old for the role, but he'd been here all afternoon, trading lines and kisses with every actress coming through. A good way to catch mono, if Ruby ever saw one.

  
"Action!"

  
The blonde disappeared into the role. She was still stunningly beautiful, but suddenly, there was frailty to her, uncertainty which replaced the confidence from before.

  
"I shouldn't talk to you this way, Cal. I shouldn't," she said, looking away from the actor. "But I don't know who else to talk to and I... Sometimes I think I'm just really bad. Sometimes I don't know what to think..."

  
She looked at the actor, expecting that he would hold the answers to her question.

  
"Well... Aron will knock that outta ya'..."

  
"Really?" she said, perking up with hope in her voice.

  
"He's got to."

  
"The way I figured, Aron never having had a mother, well, he looks for everything good that he can think of... And that's what he thinks I am!" she said with more resolution as if she could finally put into words her problem. "And that's who he's in love with, that's not me at all! Cause, I'm not a bit like that, not a bit!"

  
She paused, sighing, and her breath turned into a light chuckle. She turned back to the actor, and in doing so, she noticed Ruby observing her performance.

  
"I don't mean I think I'm really bad..."

  
She was quick to look away from the actor as if embarrassed that she'd looked at him at all. She pointed to the spotlights on the ceiling.

  
"Look at that star... It must be a planet it's so bright."

  
"How do I look?" the actor asked, and the blonde dared a glance at the man beside her, before looking away.

  
"That girl must be around here somewhere..." she said, looking down, pretending to be looking at the crowd.

  
"Well, she can just wait."

  
This made the blonde look at the actor once more.

  
"She was pretty..."

  
She paused and glanced at Ruby again before she slid closer to the man.

  
"You've been awfully nice, Cal, taking care of me."

  
They exchanged glances, and hesitantly, the actor leaned for a kiss. The kiss was short, as the blonde was quick to pull away, even look away from the man.

  
"I love Aron, really, I do!"

  
The actress was given another moment to emote, looking conflicted away from the camera, then the director called:

  
"Cut!"

  
The charm was broken. The actress was back. She politely if coldly thanked the other actor, stood up, and thanked the director, before walking off the set. She glanced at Ruby on her way out and left.

* * *

One last, lesser actress performed after the blonde and Ruby's day was over. She packed her things, picked up her coat, and left the studio. Outside, the sky was turning gray, threatening with rain. If Ruby had known, she might have taken an umbrella before leaving that morning. She closed her coat, hoping to make it home before it rained.

  
"I'm not gonna get the part, am I?"

  
Ruby looked beside her. It was the blonde actress from before, Christina Braithwhite. She'd changed out of her costume and into another, more fitting dress, her long hair still as loose and glamorously curled as before. She was standing under the edge of the studio's roof, smoking. Ruby couldn't find it in her heart to lie to her:

  
"No. They already had an actress picked, this was just to entertain Warner."

  
The blonde sighed, smoke passing through her nostrils, giving her the appearance of an angry dragon.

  
"It was too good to be true anyway. Thanks for your honesty."

  
She took another draft. The small embers at the end of the cigarette reflected in her eyes for a second, like tiny flames in the water of her irises. Ruby thought the conversation was over and she should walk away. Instead, she said:

  
"I saw you in Carmilla, you were very good."

  
The blonde smirked.

  
"You died very well, that's what people usually tell me. Your death was so well done."

  
The blonde finished her cigarette and crushed the butt under her foot.

  
"I hope I'll be seeing you around."

  
She walked away, putting both hands in the pockets of her tailored windbreaker. Ruby watched her go for a moment before she remembered the threat of the rain, and she made her way toward the backlot's front gate.

* * *

A few days later, Ruby arrived to work only to be sent to studio 5 to work on the brand new - and very loose - adaptation of _The Fall of the House of Usher_. She was told she had been personally requested by the actress. When she arrived at the studio, she found it had been turned into the interior of a Victorian house. The camera was being mounted on a crane, the director was speaking to one of the actors, a young man dressed in a purple velvet jacket.

  
She didn't hear the actress arrive, only felt the chair beside her shift. She turned around to find those piercing blue eyes staring at her reflection in the mirror.

  
"Good morning," she said with a discreet smile.

  
Somehow, Ruby wasn't surprised that the blonde had requested her.

  
"I'm playing a dead woman again. A ghost, this time," Christina said sourly. "They want me to look paler."

  
Ruby couldn't quite stiffen a snore, and the reaction made the blonde smile.

  
"Exactly. But they're shooting in black and white again, so you might as well rub chalk all over my face."

  
She sighed, looking at their reflections in the mirror.

  
"Do your best."

* * *

Ruby spent her day trying to keep Christina looking like a ghost. In her opinion, they really should have just thrown a sheet above her head. They filmed her walking back and forth down the same hallway while the two actors spoke in the foreground. Ruby hoped for the actress's sake that she wouldn't be doing this for the entire movie. That would be a waste of talent.

  
By the end of the shooting day, Ruby helped Christina get rid of the makeup. It left her looking sickly pale, still, but the blonde didn't complain.

  
"Nothing a bath can't clean," she said, her eyes never leaving Ruby's reflection. The actors had gone to change, most of the production crew had left already. Once the last few stragglers had left, Christina asked:

  
"What do you think of the movie?"

  
Ruby shrugged, trying to get the white makeup off of Christina's forehead.

  
"It's a bit early to call it a movie, isn't it?"

  
Christina smirked.

  
"That's a good way to dodge the question. I think it's going to be terrible. I think it's going to be boring, and people will say it's been done a million times already."

  
"Why did you agree to do it, if you think it's going to be bad?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.

  
"Because if I don't work they're going to release me from my contract. It's as simple as that. They have me by the throat," Christina added with a sad smile.

  
Ruby finished cleaning up the makeup as best as she could.

  
"Hopefully they'll put you in a better movie afterward."

  
Even as Ruby finished and stepped away, Christina didn't move from the chair.

  
"They won't, but it's nice of you to hope for me."

  
Their eyes met in the mirror once again. They stared silently at each other. Finally, Christina looked away and stood up.

  
"I'll see you tomorrow."

  
She walked away to the dressing room and Ruby stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as to what had made her heart beat so fast so suddenly.

* * *

For a week every day, Ruby went to studio 5 and turned Christina into a ghost. The time they spent together getting her into the makeup and getting out of it felt strange to Ruby. She could remember feeling intimidated by the blonde, but that feeling was long gone, replaced with content. For once she didn't mind her job. Once the studio was cleared and it was just the two of them, Christina had no qualm bad-mouthing the movie she was working on, and every stupid idea the director could come up with on the fly to make it even worse. It never ceased to make Ruby laugh which, in turn, made the actress smile.

  
One day Christina was to act out the character before her death. For once, lighter make up was applied to her face. They had little to no time to speak, and Ruby strangely found she was disappointed by it. It meant Christina wouldn't have to take the makeup off after. Still, ever dutiful, Ruby waited, just in case touch-ups were required. When the director called a wrap for the day, Ruby saw Christina walk up to her.

  
"Do you work tomorrow?" the blonde asked.

  
"If you don't then neither do I," Ruby pointed out.

  
"Then how about a drink?"

  
Ruby scoffed at the idea.

  
"They don't let me in where your types usually drink," she pointed out.

  
"You'd be surprised to find where I usually drink. But if you come, you should be warned that it's out of the city, and I'm not taking you there to kill you."

  
Ruby frowned in confusion.

  
"That's a very specific thing to say."

  
"Just taking precautions."

  
Ruby stopped gathering her supplies and looked at Christina with uncertainty. The blonde was looking back at her, waiting for an answer, a smile at the corner of her lips. Ruby was tempted to refuse. Although the blonde had given her no negative impressions in the past week, it sounded suspicious.

  
"You want to go and get a drink with me in a place that is out of town, and will welcome the both of us?"

  
"Does it sound so hard to believe?"

  
"Actually it does."

  
Christina crossed her arms.

  
"There are good things in the world, you know. I'd somewhat forgotten about it until I met you."

  
Ruby sighed.

  
"Fine. Don't make me regret it."

  
Christina smirked.

  
"I'll go get changed. Meet me in the parking lot in twenty minutes."

* * *

Christina drove them north and out of the city. The car disappeared behind the hills. Trees began to replace concrete. Ruby would never have been able to tell where she was, and it made her nervous. Christina seemed to sense her nervousness, as she said:

  
"You can turn on the radio if you'd like. We'll be there in twenty minutes."

  
Ruby reached for the auto-radio and turned the dial until she found her favorite station. The Ink Spot's 'I'll Never Make the Same Mistake Again' filled the inside of the car. Ruby refrained from singing along, humming instead.

  
When they reached their destination, the sun was setting over the hills. They'd arrived at a low wooden cabin, hidden behind trees. Quite a few cars were parked near it, however, there was no indication that the cabin was a bar. No light or sign above the door, only faint music coming through. Ruby stepped out of the vehicle once Christina turned the engine off. She could see people through the windows, women, she thought.

  
"Haven't changed your mind yet?" the blonde asked.

  
"Why would I have?" Ruby replied.

  
"Because you can. Because you hold no obligation to me."

  
After a moment of pause, Ruby walked toward the bar. With a smirk, Christina followed. As she pushed the door open, the smell of smoke and alcohol filled her lungs. The room looked more like a salon, with couches and comfortable-looking chairs around tables. The counter was against the wall on the right, but no bottle was on display. Instead, there were yarn balls of all colors, stacked on shelves. Ruby quickly noticed that none of the furniture matched. They'd probably been bought second-hand. There was a jukebox in a corner, playing Cole Porter's 'You're the Top'.

  
There were only women at the bar. Most sat in pairs, teacups resting in front of them. Ruby paused at the door. She had to be dreaming. Christina hadn't just brought her to a lesbian bar, had she?

  
When Ruby dared a step in, Christina brushed past her. With confidence and familiarity, she went to the woman behind the counter. Ruby followed.

  
"Whiskey for me. You?"

  
Christina turned to Ruby.

  
"Whiskey's fine..."

  
The bartender nodded and disappeared behind a door in the wall, marked with a 'personnel only' sign.

  
"What is this place?" Ruby asked, taking another look around.

  
"The Cat's Club," Christina explained, leaning her back against the counter. "It's just a hole in the wall for us cat lovers. The knitting club usually meets once a week."

  
"It's an illegal lesbian bar is what it is," Ruby muttered as she waited for her drink.

  
Christina smirked at her.

  
"A bar? Why, I only see women meeting up to knit together and gossip."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"When does the knitting club meet?"

  
"Who knows? It depends on when the police show up."

  
The bartender returned with two cups and a kettle on a tray. Christina exchanged a few crumpled bills out of her coat pocket for the tray and led Ruby to a high table in a corner. They sat down. Christina poured them a drink each. It was the color of tea, but it wasn't hot, and Ruby understood swiftly that it was whiskey.

  
"To shitty producers hiring overqualified women in their shitty movies," Christina said with an amused glim in her eyes, raising her cup.

  
Ruby clicked her cup against Christina's and took a sip. It was whiskey alright. She put the cup down in the saucer and looked around. It felt very strange to be in such a warm comfy place. The music changed to 'My Funny Valentine'. Christina's voice brought Ruby's attention back to her.

  
"So, has all of your dreams come true yet?"

  
Ruby frowned slightly at the question, so Christina added:

  
"Isn't that the reason why you came here? To make your dream come true?"

  
Ruby took another sip of alcohol, sensing she would need a lot of it to finish this conversation.

  
"Does it look like it?" she asked.

  
"I see your interest doesn't lie in applying makeup and brushing hair all day."

  
Ruby took another sip. Christina's eyes darted to her lips for a second before settling on her eyes again.

  
"There's nothing wrong with that," Ruby replied.

  
"I never said there was. I said it wasn't what you came here for."

  
Ruby sighed.

  
"True. I came here to be an actress. I can act and I can sing, but they already have one singing black woman and they don't want another. And I won't spend the rest of my life playing maids or slaves. So I bide my time, I wait for the right project to come along."

  
Ruby finished her cup without even realizing it.

  
"It kills me that they hire all those pretty white girls who can't sing, and they have to hire someone else to sing for them, and everybody knows it. I can do that. I can sing."

  
"You want to be the lead in musical movies?" Christina asked, not mockingly.

  
"Just one. Is it too much to ask?"

  
"Don't limit yourself if that's what you want. One, ten, twenty. If you're good at it, there's no reason why you shouldn't do as many as you want."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"There's a reason why I can't do it. I just don't know what to do about it."

  
"I understand," Christina said after finishing her cup.

  
Ruby raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  
"You understand?"

  
"I didn't come here to be an actor," Christina explained. "I want to be a director. And according to them, I can't. I'm just waiting for a chance to prove them wrong."

  
Ruby leaned in closer, as she found herself growing curious.

  
"Why become an actor, then?"

  
"Do you know Ida Lupino?" Christina asked.

  
"I've heard of her."

  
"She's an actress. Turned director. They let her direct movies because she was already famous. That's what I wanted to do."

  
Christina poured another cup to Ruby and herself and took a sip.

  
"But not anymore?"

  
"It's too late for me now," Christina confessed. "I've let myself be typed cast in the worst possible role."

  
She raised her cup and added:

  
"I'm the bad guy. The seductress. The worst kind of seductress, the one who goes after the leading lady. I'll never be anything but that."

  
Ruby took a sip of her drink.

  
"Whatever happened to 'don't limit yourself'?"

  
Christina smiled back at her.

  
"Wouldn't that be interesting to see? What we can do, uninterrupted?"

  
She finished her cup, her eyes never leaving Ruby's face. The longer Ruby stared into those blue eyes the more she could hear her heart. It was beating louder and louder in her throat. She'd felt attraction toward women before, but this was different. Christina was the light and she was the moth and only God could foresee what would happen when they touched.

  
"If I could make your dream come true, would you let me?" Christina asked.

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"I mean when I get my chance to make a movie, would you let me hire you? Be the star?"

  
Ruby shook her head, skeptical.

  
"That would be suicide. No one is ever going to let a woman direct a movie with a black woman as the lead."

  
"If that's what it takes to hear you sing, I'll jump willingly."

  
Ruby noticed once again that Christina was staring at her lips. She couldn't help but stare in turn. For the first time, she noticed the dimple in her chin, and she wondered how she hadn't notice before, after spending a week painting and cleaning the woman's face.

  
"If you keep staring at me like that, I'll start to think you want more than to hear me sing."

  
Christina smirked and looked away, just long enough to pour the rest of the kettle in their cups. Then her eyes were back on Ruby with the same intensity as before.

  
"I could drive you to my house. You could sing me a song. And if you let me kiss you afterward, I certainly won't complain."

* * *

Christina lived downtown in a small house near the beach. She parked her car in the driveway, under the moonlight. The smell of salt, pushed by the sea, accompanied them even inside the house. The house was dark and silent as they arrived. Ruby settled on the couch. Christina opened a cabinet and pulled two crystal glasses and a glass bottle. She set them on the table, poured them each a glass, and handed one to Ruby. Then, Christina settled on the couch beside her.

  
"You leave here alone?" Ruby asked, looking around.

  
Behind her was a dining room, and to her right, stairs were leading upstairs. She also noticed a door that probably led to the kitchen.

  
"Who else would I share it with?" Christina asked.

  
"I don't know. It seems kinda big for one person."

  
Ruby took a sip of her drink. Christina had gone back to staring at her as if she couldn't keep her out of her sight for too long.

  
"Are you waiting for me to sing now?" Ruby asked with an amused smile.

  
"Only if you want to. Your company is enough already."

  
Ruby took another sip of her drink and looked around the living room. There were a few records on a shelf. Ruby stood up, keeping her glass in hand. Christina drank as she watched her do. Ruby picked up the album on top of the pile, _Songs in a Mellow Mood_.

  
"You have nice taste in music, I'll give you that."

  
She flipped the Ella Fitzgerald record around, looking at the list of songs.

  
"I was hoping to go and see her live but unfortunately she's in Australia right now."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"Now you're just bragging."

  
She finished her glass and took a deep breath. She wasn't usually nervous when she sang. She had grown so used to the slight tinge of stress that she barely felt it anymore. But now, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

  
"If you got a record player I could sing you one."

  
"It's in my bedroom," Christina said.

  
Ruby raised an eyebrow.

  
"I like to listen to music sometimes before going to bed," Christina confessed, her cheeks turning light pink.

  
With the record in one hand and her glass in the other, she followed Christina up the stairs. Christina led her to her bedroom. The room had a balcony that overlooked the beach. When Christina walked in, she left her glass and the glass bottle on the vanity and went to open the window just a little bit, letting salty air into the room. Ruby set her glass beside Christina's and pulled the record out of its sleeve. The record player was on a shelf against the wall.

  
As she set it up, Christina sat on the bed, legs crossed, her head resting in her hand as she waited. Ruby put the needle over the beginning of the record. She dialed the music down so it wouldn't be too loud, but they could still hear it. And then, she began to sing 'I'm Glad There Is You'. She knew the lyrics from having listened to the song a hundred times. She kept her back to Christina at first and focused on her voice. She was trying to impress the blonde. When she finally turned around to look at her, she realized she'd succeeded.

  
Christina was looking at her with reverence, absolutely awestruck. Ruby didn't think the blonde could look dumbfounded, but she did. She was capable of being speechless. Ruby had made her speechless. Her nervousness disappeared and she smiled as she sang. Christina said nothing, simply watched her, listened. Then, the song ended, and another began. Ruby watched as Christina's soul seemed to return to her body. She stood up, slowly, and walked up to Ruby until she was in her space.

  
"Can I kiss you?" she whispered.

  
Ruby did not answer and pulled her into a kiss instead.

* * *

When she felt that she could move again, Ruby settled more comfortably against the pillows. Christina had shifted beside her, and she pulled her into a kiss. She exhaled through her nose. She wanted to keep kissing the blonde, but her lungs were screaming for air. Reluctantly she pulled away. So this was what happened when the moth got her hands on the light. Fire.

  
Ruby took a deep breath and Christina pulled away. She sat up and brushed her hair back into place quickly, partially hiding the reddish scratches on her back. She stood up and rounded the bed. Her eyes still hungrily trailed over Ruby's naked form, as if she hadn't had enough.

  
"Where are you going?" Ruby asked breathlessly.

  
"Don't worry, I'm not done with you yet," Christina replied with a smirk.

  
She went to the record player and lifted the needle back into place, to take the record off. They'd outlasted the music. Christina picked up the cardboard sleeve next to the glasses and the bottle of scotch. _Songs in a Mellow Mood_ was slipped carefully back into its sleeve and left on the vanity. Christina turned around, and when she saw Ruby, sprawled on her bed, she licked her lips.

  
"Thank God we don't have to work tomorrow," Christina said as she stepped forward and laid down beside Ruby. "Because neither I nor you are going to leave this bed until I'm through with you."

  
"Something tells me you wouldn't have let me out even if we'd had to go to work."

  
"Fuck work," Christina said in a low voice, one of her hands trailing over Ruby's arm and up to her shoulder. "Fuck this movie. Fuck the studio."

  
Her hand cupped Ruby's jaw, her thumb caressing her cheek gently before pulling her into a hungry kiss. Ruby pulled her closer, one hand falling on Christina's sharp hip. When they parted, Christina's nose bumped against Ruby's. She opened her ocean eyes and for a second she drowned in the warmth in Ruby's eyes.

  
"I'm gonna quit," Christina whispered. "I'm gonna quit and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make you a star."

  
Ruby smiled.

  
"That's the most terrible idea I've ever heard."

  
"It's too late now. My mind is made up. You have enchanted me with your voice."

  
Ruby shushed her with a kiss. Maybe the blonde was drunk or maybe she was high on dopamine. Maybe in the morning she would go back on her words and realize that it was insane. Or maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't, and for a second, Ruby wanted to hope that she wouldn't. That in the end, they would prevail. Uninterrupted.

**Author's Note:**

> I want the Cat's Club to be real so bad!


End file.
